Work is a pain in the...

Happy Friday eve cafe patrons! This week narrator John Solo faces the painful reality that work is not all candle-light and romance novels.

About a year ago I started having back pain.  Lower back pain, to be specific. Occasionally a knot would form on the lower right side, feeling like I had a hot baseball cramped up in there.  It was never completely debilitating; I could walk, for the most part I could still work, and it wasn’t a constant thing, just an unpleasant reminder that I am no longer a young man.  
Let me express to the universe right here and now how grateful I am that this problem didn’t become worse.  I have observed serious back problems in close friends and relatives, and thank all that is good in life that mine hasn’t become that.  Honestly, if I was more of a man’s man I probably would have just shrugged it off and kept chopping down trees or something. But I ain’t no lumberjack.  
Here is how pain normally progresses for me, in chronological order.
Denial.  I will ignore that this unpleasant thing is happening to me, harkening back to a time in my youth when I could just not pay attention to my body and it would fix itself, in a very short period of time.  I believe athletes call this “shaking it off” (This audience may have other things come to mind when hearing that term… please keep your thoughts inside the vehicle at all times).Vigorous exercise.  This is where I will attempt to make up for a couple of decades of physical malaise by doing all of that exercising right NOW, preferably in one afternoon (I don’t like to get up too early), and done in time for my evening shows.  Whining.  Having hurt myself worse (see step 2) I will now proceed to complain about my dilemma to anyone within earshot.  That’s my wife. She’s pretty good at listening, for the first 45 minutes. After that I think I saw her looking at pictures of lumberjacks on Facebook…Web MD.  I don’t actually use that site, because I don’t like pharmaceutical commercials, but I WILL get online and web search whatever physical ailment I’m experiencing.  I will read 47 forum and blog posts straight, trying to narrow down my particular dilemma. You have to be careful on the internet. I mean, anyone can post anything up… you can get some very bad advice, and when dealing with pain you could potentially exacerbate the situation.  That’s why I generally tend to lean towards the ones that agree with what I’m already thinking and feeling… Screw those other people!!! Really, this step is just self affirmation and justification to move on to step 5. Spend money.  This is danger zone for me.  I love to spend money. LOVE IT.  If life’s problems could be solved by throwing $50 at them I’d be the happiest man alive.  Instead I have dusty shrines dedicated to failed “problem solver” purchases, and a bank that doesn’t even blink when I have charges from 3 different countries in a 24 hour period.  The problem with this step is that it’s a trap. Sometimes, and I stress the word sometimes, this step actually works.  Pinky swear. But as near as I can tell, from at least 600 scientifically conducted experiments in a controlled environment, most of the time all I do is buy CRAP.  Go to the doctor.  I’m not sure how this one works.  Supposedly these “doctors” are shaman like individuals that diagnose your physical ailments and use a mortar and pestle to concoct poltrices and such.  My wife tells me about them. To be honest, I’ve never gotten past number 5...
What does lower back pain have to do with MM Romance novels and/or audio book production?  For me, everything…
You see, I spend about 12 hours a day in front of a computer and/or microphone, narrating and producing MM audio books.  As it turns out, sitting in a chair for 12 hours a day isn’t the healthiest lifestyle choice. Our bodies were not designed for that.  We were made to move, be active, not to mention the lack of negative ions… So, as I came to discover, my work was becoming a pain in my back…
The solution for me ended up being three-fold.  First, I now have to do a stretching routine every morning… it takes less than 10 minutes, but over time it has really helped out.  I guess when you pass 40, exercising is no longer a choice, it becomes a necessity. Secondly, shifting positions every 10 minutes or so, and getting up and moving around every 45 minutes.  This seems like a no-brainer now, but I really did go for periods of at least a half hour without moving more than my mouse hand. I can’t believe I didn’t develop chair sores… LOL. Finally, and in true me fashion, I bought a new office chair.  :) I know, I know… don’t roll your eyes at me!  This purchase has definitely proven to be the exception to the rule.  
 
Now, instead of popping 3 ibuprofen and heading to my computer like I’m about to go 10 rounds with the champ, I’m back to looking forward to work.  And, this new chair is super sexy...



Find John Solo and Falcon Sound Company on Facebook, or at falconsoundcompany.com
Check out John's latest narration, "A Wild Ride," by Andrew Grey!